Tufting button



Patented Oct. 7, 1947 UNITED STATES TUFTING BUITON Kenneth P. VVillams, New York, N.l Y., assigner,

by mesne assignments, to'United Mattress Machinery Company, Incorporated, acorpnration of Maine Application FebruaryZ, 1945', Serial No. 580,110

(CL 24-'-102l 2 Claims; 1.

This invention' pertains to buttons, and more particularly to so-called tufting buttons which are employed inv upholstery and in mattress making.

Tufting buttons are used for anchoring the covering fabric to the underlying padding of a mattress or piece of upholstered furniture, the head of the button bearing against the outer exposed surface of the cover fabric, and the eye protruding through an aperture in the cover and constituting an attachment for a cord by means of which the button is drawn down with substantial force usually sufficient to compress the padding inwardly beneath the button and to form in the cover a dimple or depression at the bottom of ywhich the button head is located. Such buttons must ybe very strong and the shank portion of the eye must be rmly united to the head in order to avoid separation of these parts When subjected to the very substantial stress to which the button is subjected, not only while being fastened in place but also during the use of the mattress or upholstered article. and the eye must be of ample size to accommodate the heavy attaching cord or tape. Initially, the cord is so stressed as to draw the button head inwardly in opposition to the expansive force of the compressed padding, but when the padding is further compressed by the weight of a person, the tension on the cord may be slackened. Moreover, the cord, during use, tends to elongate. In consequence, the button may be temporarily or permanently loosened, so that its shank is withdrawn from the cover material and its head-tips sidewise to the great discomfort of the user of the mattress or upholstered article.

Customarily, the eye portion of the button is integral with a shank which is secured to the button head, the eye portion receiving the loop of attaching cord. In applying the button, a small hole is first formed in the fabric covering, for example by means of the needle, and the eye is pulled through this hole, stretching and expanding the material as it passes through it. When the eye has passed through the material, the latter tends to contract about the shank and the upper edge of the eye bears against the inner surface of the covering and theoretically, at least, acts as an abutment to help to prevent the button from loosening if the cord become slack. However, the shape of the eye of the conventional tufting button is such that it oiers little real opposition to withdrawal from the fabric when the cord loosens. In fact some types of button have an eye which so tapers toward the head as effectively to expand the opening in the fabric and thus release itself as soon as the cord becomes at all slack.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a tufting button having a shank and eye of such sliape4 as to offer real resistance to loosening'of the button when the attaching cord become slack. A further object is to provide a button having its head so shaped that the pressure ywhich itimposes upon the fabric covering is well distributed and applied at a distance from the shank-receiving opening. A further object is to provide a tufting button having an eye of adequate size to receive the attaching cord and having an abrupt fabric-engaging shoulder, but so shaped that it mayreadily be pushed through the opening in theV fabric. Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description andY by reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich Fig. l is a front elevation, to large scale, of a button embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the button shown in Flg; l;

Fig; 3 is a fragmentary diagrammatic View, to smaller scale, illustrating one mode of use of a tufting button of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, diametrical section through the button head, indicating the disposition of the fabric between the head and the shoulder portion of the shank when the button is in use; and.

Fig. 5 is a view generally similar to Fig. 1, and illustinting a modification.

Reerring to the drawings, Figures l to 4, the numeral i indicates the `button head, which may be or" any of the usual materials employed for such purpose, including metal, synthetic resin, glass, bone, shell, indurated fiber, or the like. In this preferred construction, this head has a substantially flat upper surface 2 and a rim portion 3 which is smoothly rounded and preferably thicker vertically than that portion of the head which lies just inwardly of the rim, the effect o1' this construction being to provide the head With an under surface which is concave upwardly. The shank portion of the button` is herein illustrated asconsisting of.V a length of wire. While metal F Wire will usually be employed, it is contemplated thatV other materials may be used, and in fact that theeshankvportion. may be of moulded material initially formed separately from the head, or if preferred, moulded integrally with the head. Howeven. for convenience in the following description, but without intentional limitation, the shanks. referred to as formed from a length of wire. Asshown in. Fig. l, the end portions 6 and I of thislength of Wire are disposed in closely ad jacent parallel relation andembedded in the substance of thelhead. Any desired means for uniting the parts iiandr 'I tothe head may be emplayed. Thusy for example,` as illustrated in Fig. 4, the parts G and 1 may be grooved, as shown at 8, so as to provide effective enlargements at 9 whereby the members 6 and 'I may be firmly anchored to the material of the head. Other methods, for example swedging, soldering, Welding, or the like, appropriate to the particular material chosen, may be used, all within the scope of the invention.

The end portions Ii and l' are substantially straight, and their exposed parts or legs I and Il collectively constitute what is herein, for convenience, referred to as the stem As illustrated, the legs I0 and II are substantially straight and parallel, but they may be otherwise arranged, for example with their axes in intersecting planes or the like. The parts I Il and II extend to some distance below the under surface of the button head, for instance a distance of 1A; inch or thereabouts. The parts IIl and II then merge with bends at I2 and I3, respectively, from which the material of the wire shank extends outwardly to form the abutmentshoulders I4 and I5. Preferably the bends I2 and I3 are somewhat less than right-angular bends, for example the general slope of the parts I4 and I5 between inner and outer bends may make an angle (above the shoulders) with the axis of the button head of from 60 to 85 However, as illustrated in Fig. 5, good results may be obtained if the included angle between the axes of the parts I4 and I5' and the axis of the head is 90, or even slightly more. As shown in Fig. 1, the parts I4 and I5 are not straight, but curved, and, as in the arrangement shown in Fig. 5, the uppermost points or elements of the parts I4 and I5 or I4' and I5 are in a plane substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis of the button head.

The abutment shoulders I4 and I5 are spaced below the under surface of the head I a sufiicient distance to receive the fabric of the mattress or cushion between the shoulders and head. As illustrated in Fig. l, the parts I 4 and I5 terminate at outer bends I6 and Il (preferably less than right angles), the wire then extending down to form the portions I 8 and I9 which are integrally joined at 20, preferably in a curve of relatively short radius, for example a radius of the order of 1/en of an inch.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the parts I4, I5, ,6, I'I, IB, I9 and 20 form an eye which is of substaftially heart-shape, being widest between the points I 6 and II and gradually tapering toward the point 20.

Desirably the maximum width of the eye portion,

measured across the parts I6 and I'I, should exceed one-half the diameter of the head I. Instead of making the eye of heart-shape, it may be made more nearly triangular or truncated triangular, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the latter view also showing the head Ia as having a curved upper surface 2B and a substantially flat under surface.

Whether the arrangement of Figs. 1 or 5 be ernployed, it will be noted that the parts I4 and I5 or I 4' and I5' provide abrupt abutments whose uppermost elements are in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the head. The button is applied to the mattress or other device, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the buttons at opposite sides being joined by a loop L of cord or tape, and being drawn inwardly to form dimples in the opposed fabrics C and C', the cord or tape L being placed under stress. If, during use, the cord becomes slackened, the abrupt abutments, provided by the shoulder portions I4 and I5 of the button eye, engage the inner surface of the fabric and thus effectively prevent the button eye from escaping from the fabric. The narrow end and sloping portions IB and I9 greatly facilitate the insertion of the button eye through the fabric, the generally sagittate eye thus not only resisting withdrawal, but also assisting in introducing the button.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the concavity of the under surface of the button head tends to localize the pressure exerted by the button against the fabric to a circle of a diameter approximating the diameter of the thickened rim 3 of the button. The opening in the fabric is thus relieved from much of the stress to which it is usually subjected by buttons of ordinary type, so that tearing of the fabric is substantially prevented.

In the above description reference has been made to the top and under or bottom side of the button head, and to the lower" end of the button eye, but it is to be understood that these terms are merely for convenience in description and with reference to the button as illustrated, and are not to be construed as in any sense limiting the invention or the position in which the button may be used.

While certain desirable embodiments of the invention are herein illustrated by Way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modications falling within the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tufting button comprising a head having a substantially flat top and a rim which is thicker vertically than that portion of the head which adjoins the rim, and a shank comprising a pair of legs whose ends are fixed in the substance of the head, the legs extending below the head to form a stern, and integrally merging with an eye portion, the eye portion being symmetrical with respect to the vertical axis of the head and cornprising abutment shoulders whose uppermost elements are spaced from the under surface of the head a distance of the order of V3 inch, the eye tapering in width from said shoulders and having a fabric-penetrating point of small radius.

2. A tuiting button comprising a head having a. rim which is thicker vertically than that portion of the head which adjoins the rim, and a shank comprising a pair of legs whose ends are fixed in the substance of the head, the legs extending below the head to form a stern and integrally merging with an eye portion, the eye portion tapering downwardly from the stem, and being symmetrical with respect to the vertical axis of the head. the eye comprising abutment shoulders spaced from the under side of the head a distance suflicient to admit a ply of fabric between said shoulders and the under surface of the head, the lower part of the loop terminating in a smoothly curved fabric-penetrating portion.

KENNETH P. WILLIAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 546,349 Saunders Sept. 17, 1895 1,407,945 Meyer Feb. 28, 1922 1,512,565 Ross Oct. 21, 1924 2,262,161 Blumstock Nov. ll, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 248,103 Germany June 13, 1912 414,027 France June 9. 1910 

